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Surrey Heath: Household Support Fund & Crisis and Resilience Fund

What Surrey Heath’s local crisis scheme covers, how to apply, and whether it was open when we checked.

Written by the benefitmoney.co.uk editorial team · Last reviewed 14 September 2026

Surrey Heath Borough Council runs its local crisis help as the Crisis and Resilience Fund. It is a grant — not a loan: help with essentials, nothing to repay. This is a summary; Surrey Heath’s own page (linked below) is the authority and the current position.

What Surrey Heath’s scheme covers

Award: Not usually more than weekly Housing Benefit or UC housing element
What you get: Paid to the applicant, their landlord, or another third party where appropriate
Who qualifies: Must get Housing Benefit or UC housing element and have a rent shortfall or clear need for housing cost help
How often: Can be a one-off payment or run for a set length of time
How to apply: Apply online, or request a paper form via email to the revenues team
Decision: Council considers the application then contacts the applicant with the result
You will need: Most recent 3 months' bank statements for all accounts, plus evidence of rent, tenancy and circumstances
Not covered: Cannot help with ineligible service charges, arrears-driven rent increases, or benefit sanction/overpayment shortfalls
Government allocation: £90,691 for 2026-27

Surrey Heath Borough Council is one of 11 district councils in Surrey. In a two-tier area the county council runs crisis payments and the district runs the housing side of the fund — rent shortfalls, a deposit, rent in advance. Surrey County Council was allocated £7,278,801 for 2026-27; Surrey Heath Borough Council was allocated £90,691 of its own. If what you need is help with food or energy rather than rent, start with the Surrey scheme.

What Surrey Heath itself says

Award. “The amount we award will not usually be more than your weekly Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit”
What you get. “Payments can be made to you, your landlord, or another third party where appropriate”
Who qualifies. “a rent shortfall or other clear need for further financial assistance with housing costs”
How often. “how it will be paid, and how long it will last (if it is not a one-off payment)”
How to apply. “You can apply for discretionary housing payment using our online system”
Decision. “We will consider your application and contact you to let you know the result”
You will need. “Most recent 3 months' bank statements for all accounts”

Quoted from Surrey Heath’s own page↗, checked 14 September 2026. Nothing on this page is paraphrased into a rule the council has not published. The government allocation is from Annex A of the Crisis and Resilience Fund grant determination 2026 to 2027↗.

Apply on Surrey Heath’s website

Applications are made on the council’s own site — this page collects nothing. If the link has moved, search the council site for “crisis and resilience”, then “household support”, then “welfare assistance”.

Open the Surrey Heath scheme page

Source: Surrey Heath Borough Council — Crisis and Resilience Fund. Opened 10 September 2026.

Where this money comes from

Central government funds it; the council sets the rules. A payment does not affect your benefits. How the fund works nationally.

Other help you may qualify for

Borrowing while on benefits — what it costs and what it does to your award.
Crisis Loans — what replaced them, and where to apply now.
Help with energy bills — grants and supplier schemes.
Eligibility checker — see what you could be entitled to.

Not in Surrey Heath?

See the other councils we have checked, or find yours via GOV.UK’s Get help with the cost of living from your local council↗.

Outside England the scheme has a different name: the Scottish Welfare Fund in Scotland, the Discretionary Assistance Fund in Wales, and Discretionary Support in Northern Ireland.

Recently checked elsewhere: Swale, Ashfield, King's Lynn And West Norfolk — see all 141.

Find your council by postcode

Not in Surrey Heath? Enter a postcode and we will point you at the right council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund page.

We look the postcode up with the free postcodes.io service to find your local authority. Nothing you type is stored.

This page is independent. It is not run by Surrey Heath Borough Council, the Department for Work and Pensions or GOV.UK. Council schemes change without notice; the council’s own page is always the current position.